From: GLAADSFBA@aol.com
Date: Fri, 25 Aug 1995 23:57:08 -0400
Subject: GLAAD MEDIA WATCH, Aug. 25
M E D I A W A T C H
for
August 25, 1995
by
Al Kielwasser
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation,
San Francisco Bay Area
H E E D I N G G O O D A D V I C E
Syndicated columnist Ann Landers has retracted the homophobic advice she
offered to one of her gay readers. In a June 15th column, Landers had told a
52-year-old gay father that he should keep his lover home when attending his
son's wedding. In her August 20th column, however, Landers now admits that
her suggestion was "gutless." The advice guru credits an outpouring of
"angry mail" for changing her position from wrong to right.
Landers begins her August 20th column by announcing: "I haven't had so much
angry mail since I sided with the readers who insisted that the toilet paper
should be hung so it goes behind the roll and falls close to the wall." "The
issue that created the recent commotion," she explains, "is whether or not
the gay father in Virginia should attend his son's wedding without Jason, his
companion of 12 years." The father had informed Landers that "my son told me
he did not want me to bring Jason to the wedding because some of his friends
are not as understanding as he is, and he doesn't want to be embarrassed on
his wedding day."
"My advice," Landers reminds her readers, "was to leave the decision up to
Jason. I said, 'If he's a first-rate fellow, he will encourage you to attend
his son's wedding without him.'" Since then, Landers reports, "The negative
responses have been so heavy, my letter carrier has developed a hernia."
Landers candidly reprints several "samples of what I've been getting" and
each letter bluntly challenges her bad advice: "You sure wimped out . . . ,"
"Your advice stank . . . . ," "You really bombed . . . ." She concludes:
"So, dear readers, the people have spoken, and as usual, they are right. My
advice to 'leave the decision to Jason' was gutless. I should have said,
'Tell your son if your life companion is not welcome, you won't be there. He
needs educating, and this could be an important first step.'"
The significance of Landers' about-face is heightened by her status as one of
the most historically-entrenched and widely-read columnists in the world. It
is encouraging to know that such media figures are not immune to good advice
. . . or the collective force of "so much angry mail."
**** ACTION: Keep the mail coming! Send encouraging feedback to Ann
Landers, P.O. Box 11562, Chicago, IL 60611-0562.
I T ' S N O E X C U S E . . .
The cover of "TV Guide's" August 5th issue proclaimed: "Tom Selleck Talks
Tough. He's Back and He's Battling Pushy Fans . . . Vicious Rumors . . .
Even Barbra Streisand!" Inside the magazine, Selleck vented over rumors that
he is gay. "With fire in his eyes," Selleck declared: "I have a wife and
kid, and I am not going to spit on my wife and falsify that commitment. What
is implied if you're married and gay? You've got two lives . . . . I
couldn't care less whether people who are gay would like me to be gay. This
is not going to happen."
In "TV Guide's" August 26th issue, a reader's letter takes the magazine to
task for it's Selleck coverage. "It is one thing to quote Mr. Selleck about
past rumors regarding his homosexuality," a Florida man writes, "But was it
really necessary to declare those intimations 'vicious rumors' on the cover
of your magazine -- thereby perpetuating the idea that it is necessarily a
horrible thing to be gay?"
In reply, "TV Guide" offered a one-sentence "Editor's Note:" "The 'vicious'
aspect of the rumors was in the implication that he was a liar and that his
marriage was a farce."
That's hardly an adequate explanation. If "TV Guide" had meant to suggest
that implications of deceitfulness (rather than homosexuality) are vicious,
then it could have done so with much more clarity. NOWHERE in the August 5th
cover story does the author EVER state: "Tom Selleck is the victim of
vicious rumors that he is a liar." Readers are left with the inevitable
impression that intimations about homosexuality are ESSENTIALLY vicious --
not unlike like rumors of bed-wetting or a criminal past.
"TV Guide's" other specious claim -- that the viciousness of the rumors is in
the implication that Selleck's marriage "was a farce" -- ignores the complex
history of Hollywood homophobia. Even today, speculation about sexual
orientation is predominantly motivated by the simple fact that, for various
reasons, MOST gay actors HAVE hidden their homosexuality.
Rumors about these men are hardly vicious in their intent. And if such
rumors exhibit any hateful consequences, that result is properly attributed
to the viciousness of homophobia, NOT homosexuals (e.g., the imagined
viciousness of "people who are gay who would like me to be gay"). "TV
Guide's" story on Selleck, however, NEVER mentioned homophobia.
**** ACTION: Remind "TV Guide" that poor excuses are no substitute for
honest retractions; the "Editor's Note" is an insult to both the magazine's
integrity and its readers' intelligence. Contact Anthea Disney,
Editor-in-Chief, "TV Guide," Radnor, PA 19088, e-mail tvgeditor@delphi.com;
correspondence intended for publication should be directed to the "Letters
Department" at the same address (no anonymous letters will be published).
H A Z A R D O U S H E A L T H B O O K S
On September 7 and 8, the California Board of Education will meet to approve
textbooks in health, family life and sex education. The new books will be
used throughout the state's 1,000+ public school districts, reaching a huge
-- and captive -- audience of young readers.
As anticipated, even the "best" of the books being considered contains only
vague and isolated references to homosexuality. And the conservative Board
of Education is likely to resist even that timid treatment! To date, Board
members have favored only textbooks that promote heterosexuality (and,
consequently, homophobia) to obvious, exaggerated and exclusive extremes.
Regardless of the Board's final decision, the September 7 and 8 meetings
provide an opportunity for drawing much-needed attention to the blatant bias
and disregard for truth that have motivated textbook selections. Public
officials, educators and concerned citizens must set the agenda, insisting
that, at the very least, the Board of Education EXPLAIN itself.
Journalists, in particular, should be encouraged to treat this issue
appropriately -- as the BIG NEWS it is. With relative impunity (and a
reckless disregard for intellect), the State Board of Education has engaged
in a systematic program of miseducation and hate-mongering.
Much of the homophobic violence in our streets begins with the homophobic
books in our classrooms. Whenever we fail to teach the truth today, we pay
for it tomorrow -- many times over.
**** ACTION: Quiz the President of the Board of Education; ask her to
explain, precisely, how and why California's new health textbooks will or
will not address the subject of homosexuality AND meet the needs of ALL
students, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered youth. Contact
Marion McDowell, President, State Board of Education, P.O. Box 944272,
Sacramento, CA 94244-2720, tel 916-657-5436.
Also, send Letters-to-the-Editors of major state and national dailies,
focusing attention and public opinion around this issue. Contact the "Los
Angeles Times" (Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, fax
213-237-7679), the "Sacramento Bee" (P.O. Box 15779, Sacramento, CA 95812,
e-mail sacbee@netcom.com), the "San Francisco Examiner" (P.O. Box 7260, San
Francisco, CA 94120, fax 415-512-1264, e-mail letters@examiner.com), the "San
Jose Mercury News" (750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95190, fax
4o8-288-8060, e-mail sjmercury@aol.com), the "San Diego Union-Tribune" (Box
191, San Diego, CA 92112-4106, fax 619-293-1440, e-mail
computerlink@sduniontrib.com), and "USA Today" (1000 Wilson Blvd., Arlington,
VA 22229, fax 703-276-5513, e-mail usatoday@clark.net).
K I S S A N D T E L L
Following the debut of his new film "Jeffrey," gay screenwriter Paul Rudnick
has become the subject of numerous newspaper columns and film reviews. In
the September issue of "Premiere" magazine, by contrast, Rudnick is his own
subject.
In a three-page feature story ("The Movie's The Thing"), Rudnick reflects on
his experience in bringing "Jeffrey" from stage to screen. "Jeffrey" -- a
"comedy about a gay man who, in response to the AIDS crisis, decides to give
up sex" -- hits upon most of the subjects that usually "panic the acting
community" as well as the film industry. Making this movie both confirmed
and challenged Hollywood's homophobia, which Rudnick examines through an
incisive wit.
When first casting the movie, for example, Rudnick found that no one wanted
to get near the project. He explains: "Actors prefer to play noble gay
victims, i.e., men who battle disease and prejudice but don't kiss. If there
is a same-sex onscreen kiss . . . (it) should resemble a neurotic vampire's
first self-loathing chomp. The kisses in 'Jeffrey' are frequent,
deep-throated, and often public and sunlit. This leads to messages from
agents who claim the script 'didn't speak' to their clients."
Rudnick's article takes the reader from the casting of "Jeffrey" through
rehearsals, and highlights the filming of several noteworthy scenes. The
article concludes, appropriately, with the shooting of the film's final scene
-- "a climatic, 'Casablanca'-level kiss" between the characters Steven and
Michael "Movie actors are the planets' sex-education instructors," Rudnick
says, "they show us how to do it right. When Steven and Michael kiss, we can
all take notes."
"'Jeffrey' is about the triumph of romance in the face of horrific
obstacles," Rudnick concludes, "A kiss is just a kiss, but a movie kiss can
be a banner."
Though ordinarily not writing about his own work, Rudnick is a regular
columnist for "Premiere." "Premiere" is a mainstream, mass-circulated "movie
magazine."
**** ACTION: Direct compliments to Susan Lyne, Editor-in-Chief, "Premiere,"
1990 South Bundy Drive, Suite 250, Los Angeles, CA 90025, fax 310-820-3192,
e-mail 76702.2132@compuserve.com; correspondence intended for publication
should be directed to the "Letters Editor" at the same address (and must
include a name, address and daytime telephone number).
T O O - V A P I D C O L U M N I S T
In a column for the "San Francisco Examiner," INVESTIGATIVE reporter Scott
Winokur examines the "Speakers Bureau" program operated by Community United
Against Violence (CUAV), an anti-violence organization ("The Too-Candid
School Sex Lectures," August 8). The CUAV program trains lesbian and gay
volunteers to make classroom presentations -- answering children's questions,
challenging stereotypes and combating wide-spread misinformation about
homosexuality.
Though he makes half-hearted overtures to the value of "tolerance," Winokur's
column is just a homophobic hit piece. He dwells on ONE alleged incident --
now several years old -- in which two CUAV speakers were accused of giving
sixth-grade students "too-candid" descriptions of "what they do in their beds
and precisely how they do it." "We're talking about clinical details such as
you'd expect at a sexologists' convention," Winokur puffs, "We're talking
about allegations of proselytizing, not instruction on the whys and
wherefores of homophobic violence. This is the view of angry parents."
Outrageously, Winokur gives an uncritical airing to the complaints of a
SINGLE parent, who wants to keep homosexuality out of the classroom. With
classic bias, Winokur weighs the angry parent's claims as if they were one
side of a reasonable debate -- as if there were no facts about homosexuality,
only opinions.
The parent's "reputation" for homophobia is unfair, Winokur argues, and is
just as "wrong" as CUAV's "reputation in some portions of the straight
community as a lobby for the gay 'lifestyle.'" This insane (and popular)
argument defines "homophobe" as an intolerant epitaph.
Ultimately, Winokur does not dismiss the value of the Speakers Bureau
outright. Instead, he makes a paranoid plea for special "restrictions" and
careful "control" of the program. He concludes: "Classroom education on
homophobia doubtlessly will continue, as it should -- though with increased
attention to entirely appropriate restrictions."
This concern -- sex-negative as well as homophobic -- singles out lesbians
and gays for extraordinary (and unfounded) suspicion. Winokur implies that,
if left unguarded, queers would stop at nothing short of copulating in the
Kindergarten classroom.
**** ACTION: Send criticism to Phil Bronstein, Executive Editor, and Scott
Winokur, "San Francisco Examiner," 110 Fifth Street, San Francisco, CA 94103,
tel. 415-777-2424, fax 415-512-1264, e-mail letters@examiner.com.
M E D I A B R I E F S
* MONOPOLY ON HOMOPHOBIA . . . The "Juneau Empire" is, reportedly, "the
only newspaper" published in Alaska's state capitol. Recently, the paper
editorialized against a new policy that provides domestic partnership
benefits at the University of Alaska. According to the "Empire," extending
"benefits for 'domestic partners' threatens not only traditional family
values but also the pocketbooks of every Alaskan." To challenge this media
monologue, send a much-needed letter to the Editor, "Juneau Empire," 3100
Channel Drive, Juneau, AK 99801, fax 907-586-9097.
* E-MEDIA WATCH . . . (1) "Plugged-In" is a new, weekly e-mail newsletter
(plugged-in@gaysource.com) that "keeps you plugged in, turned on, and
up-to-date with what's happening in 'GaySource,' the first on-line magazine
for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender community created especially
for the World Wide Web." The premiere issue of "GaySource" is now accessible
(http://www.gaysource.com/) and features an inviting mix of soft and hard
news. (2) News and commentary from the "Electronic Gay Community Magazine"
(EGCM) can also be accessed on the World Wide Web
(http://www.fn.net/~awes/egcm.htm). Self-identified as "the world's longest
running on-line publication for the gay, lesbian and bisexual community,"
EGCM is published by The Land of Awes, P.O. Box 16782, Wichita, KS
67216-0782, tel. 316-269-0913, fax 316-269-4208, e-mail awes@fn.net.
* CRIMINAL MINDS . . . The Australian Institute of Criminology will host
an eclectic gathering for its First National Conference on Violence Against
Gays and Lesbians, October 27 - 28, at the University of Sydney. Rex Wockner
reports that scheduled topics include the "Sociology of Violence," "Gay
Hate-Related Murders," "School-Based Violence," and "Media Attitudes." For
details, contact Glenys Roussel, fax 011-61-6-274-0225.
* BROADER CASTING . . . To encourage "new voices" in broadcast journalism,
National Public Radio (NPR) has launched a Diversity Initiative. This
skills-building program provides intensive training for journalists
interested in working as radio reporters. NPR's Diversity Initiative is
funded by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Contact:
Catherine Stifter, NPR, 635 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20001-3753, tel. 202-414-2744.
* TALKING RADIO . . . Gays and Lesbians in Public Radio (GLIPR) has
created an Internet mailing list. The new service -- "GLIPR-L" -- is
dedicated to discussions of "programming, work place issues, political trends
in public radio, and other areas of interest to the list members." To join,
send e-mail to listserv@soundprint.brandywine.american.edu, with the one-line
message "SUBSCRIBE GLIPR-L."
* COMING ATTRACTIONS . . . (1) "Variety" (August 20) reports that Buena
Vista Television -- one arm of Disney's massive media octopus -- is
developing a talk-show featuring gay singer and drag queen RuPaul. According
to "Variety," the Disney company "might decide to launch RuPaul" on its
newly-acquired ABC network, following the popular news show "Nightline." So
far, however, Buena Vista is offering "no comment." Contact: Buena Vista
Television, 500 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, CA 91521, tel.
818-560-1000. (2) The Tribune Wire Service (July 28) has reported that
young gay actor Wilson Cruz (formerly of "My So-Called Life") may play a gay
fashion student in "Seventh Avenue," a possible NBC midseason series.
Contact: NBC Entertainment, 3000 West Alameda Avenue, Burbank, CA 91523,
tel. 818-840-4444.
* ACADEMIC QUEERIES . . . Proposals for papers and presentations are now
being sought for "Queer Coalitions: The 6th Annual National Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transidentified Graduate Student Conference," April 4 - 7, 1996,
Miami University. Queer media studies are included within the broad scope of
this conference, which is seeking the participation of students, activists,
performers and artists from a variety of disciplines. Contact: Queer
Coalitions, c/o Marcy Knopf, Miami University, Department of English,
Bachelor Hall, Oxford, OH 45056.
* MEDIA WATCHING MEDIA . . . Recent issues various newspapers have
included articles concerning lesbian and gay media issues. (1) "The New
York Times" reported on Planet Out, a "new electronic media company . . .
seeking to become the 'gay global village' of cyberspace" ("Planet Out's Gay
Service On Virtual Horizon," August 21, "The Times," 229 W 43rd Street, New
York, NY 10036). (2) The "San Francisco Chronicle" recently examined the
evolving climate for queer characters on prime-rime television ("Gay
Characters Get A Life On TV," August 17, "Chronicle," 901 Mission Street, San
Francisco, CA 94103-2988). (3) An article in the "Rocky Mountain News"
chronicled the workplace issues confronting lesbian and gay journalists ("Gay
Journalists Still Fight For Newsroom Acceptance," July 27, "News," 400 W.
Colfax Avenue, Denver, CO 80204). (4) The "San Jose Mercury News" profiled
gay screenwriter Paul Rudnick, whose film "Jeffrey" was recently released
("Paul Rudnick Is Successful Enough For Two People," August 8, "Mercury
News," 750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95190). (5) In a column for the
"Philadelphia Daily News," Victoria Brownworth offers a personal gloss on the
value of lesbian-affirmative lyrics in pop music ("Pop Tune Can Comfort Teens
Unsure Of Their Sexuality," July 25, "Daily News," 400 N. Broad Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19101).
* INSIDE AND OUT. . . Bill Bouyer, a former board member of the National
Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA), is now News Director at
VH-1, the national music/entertainment television channel. Contact: VH-1,
1515 Broadway, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10036.
* WEB WATCH . . . The World Wide Web is fertile ground for opposition
research. To keep an eye on the hate-mongers, on-line activists reccomend
browsing these unpleasant pages: "Aryan Crusader's Library"
(http://www.io.com/~riogsdon/), "Cell Church"
(http://www-sal.cs.uiuc.edu/~jreid/cell-church/), "The Christian
Coalition/Christian Broadcasting Network" (http://the700club.org/), Focus on
the Family (http://www.cs.albany.edu/~ault/fof.html), "National Alliance"
(http://www.natvan.com/), "Promise Keepers"
(http://www.whitedove.com/pk/index.html), and "Stormfront"
(http://204.181.176.4/stormfront/default.htm).
******************************************************
LET THE MEDIA KNOW YOU'RE WATCHING!
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation challenges homophobia in and
through the mass media . . . shaping the forces that shape our society.
Founded in 1988, the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of GLAAD is a non-profit
(501[c]3), volunteer-based membership organization dedicated to cultural
advocacy and media activism. GLAAD/SFBA promotes the fair, accurate and
diverse representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lives.
To notify GLAAD/SFBA of any defamatory or affirmative media coverage, or to
request GLAAD membership information, please call the 24-hour Media Watch
Hotline (415-861-4588) or write Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation,
1360 Mission Street, Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94103; Fax 415-861-4893;
E-mail glaadsfba@aol.com; World Wide Web
http://www.gaytrek.com/gaytrek/glaad.html.
To support on-going monitoring and response efforts, GLAAD asks individuals
to forward copies of any correspondence they send to, or receive from, the
media.
******************************************************
MEDIA WATCH is a weekly report that may be printed, published or posted, in
whole or part without prior permission. When appropriate, attribution should
be made to "Al Kielwasser" and/or "GLAAD San Francisco." GLAAD/SFBA greatly
appreciates copies of publications that make use of the MEDIA WATCH.